Part 60: Verse 0: The Platinum Ticket

This one's a long one!



Verse 0: The Platinum Ticket Blip(Polsy) | Youtube(Polsy) | Download



Verse 0: Extras Blip(Polsy) | Youtube(Polsy) | Download



Transcribed from in-game text


Pillow Talk
A vessel for the demonic being Mahavairocana, said to have seduced women by whispering sweet nothings during their dreams. Pillow Talk has incredible angel-killing power thanks to Rodin's conjuring abilities. The demonic power summoned from the portal at the weapon's hilt takes the form of a strangely glowing green blade of light capable of slicing foes cleanly in half.


Bloody Moon
An enigmatic weapon crafted by the Umbra Witches, this weapon is the pinnacle of their moon-driven technology and can emit various colored blades depending on the demon held within ... Incognito as a mild-mannered high school teacher, Jeanne defends her innocent students at all costs, transforming into the super heroine, Cutie J! Her blood red blade will cut the ribbon and start class on the finer points of justice! Bring evil to justice, Cutie J! End their reign with her deadly Dynamic J!


Rodin
A mysterious bracelet once used by the fallen angel Rodin in holding dominion over a portion of Paradiso. Depending on the power of its user, the bracelet can take on many different forms.



Transcribed from in-game text


Father Rodin
An incredibly powerful angel once charged with governing a portion of Paradiso. Immortal, he has seen the passing of countless generations in Paradiso, surviving them all, and earning the awe-inspiring title of Infinite One.

It is said he turned his back on the heavens and fought an insurgency against Paradiso. Upon ultimately losing the battle, he was exiled to Inferno. However, there are others that say the rulers of Paradiso feared his power and ensnared him in a trap that led to his exile. During his time in paradise, the angel Rodin was charged with the task of creation, responding to Divine Will with various masterpieces.

He was known as a genius smith, renowned for his weapons and armor. The stories of grossly outnumbered troops using his weapons to eviscerate demonic forces are too numerous to tell. After being forced from Paradiso, it is said the newly condemned demon tired of the chaotic battles that rage endlessly in Inferno and disappeared from the Infernal realm. No one knows of his whereabouts since.







Now, talking about the Platinum Ticket and the secret battle against Rodin. This fight seems to have been designed as the ultimate challenge for players. Who at PlatinumGames makes the decisions about adjusting the difficulty?
Unfortunately, it's not me. Our super player... the best player in the team, is our criterion of the game's difficulty. It's okay if he can win. I just have to tell you this... When we were testing, Rodin suddenly got double HP and I had to give up. (laughs) Like "Whaaaat?" Don-san is standing behind us, watching the super-player and me playing. When we have been trampled underfoot, he gives us a satisfied look. But if we find an easy pattern or strategy, he jumps back to his place and... (types rapidly on the desk)
... and sends the new version to us. So when we check the program, it's already an updated version with no easy patterns. Rodin is now stronger.

Already? Before you even talked to him?
Yes. When I went to Don-san and said, "Well, I have just found an easy pattern," he didn't even look at me but simply said, "It's already gone. Load the updated file, it's fixed."
He has developed an enemy that he cannot defeat though. (laughs) He could not defeat Rodin. He said this is the only thing he regrets.
He said, "It's the first enemy ever I have not been able to beat."

So Don-san created a battle that is balanced to be as hard as it possibly can be?
Yes. But Don-san will never introduce an unfair attack. That would be against our policy. We place an emphasis on adjusting the difficulty. We can simply say something is difficult, but it has to be a legitimate difficulty. To make things difficult is what we can do without any limits. For example, an enemy using an attack which far exceeds the player's reaction, or a cheating system which checks a player's input. Like counter-attacking with this attack if a player inputs this move. So your attack will always be countered. Or an enemy moving at a speed that overpowers a player's moving skill. Something you can't evade. A one-frame attack with no preparation motion. Evading is impossible in this case. So we think, we must give them a predicator. "Here comes the attack," then "Now attacking". Players should be able to react. Creating this kind of give and take is, in our opinion, the difficulty adjustment. So we never do anything unfair.

Is that why the Death Grab move has a preparation phase?
Yes. This is true for Death Grab. We show the preparation.